, , , , , 0

An appraiser must be worthy.  You must be believable.  Your work must be credible.

That’s what it says in USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice).  Note that the source is the Appraisal Foundation—declared therein to be “the nation’s foremost authority on the valuation profession.”

It uses the word “credible” 82 times in the Standards themselves.  (And a couple hundred more times in the Advisory Opinions and FAQs).  We will use the word “believable” here, to make the point, and avoid referencing each time.  That is the stated definition in USPAP: Credible = Worthy of Belief.

In that document, it requires “credible” in several ways:

  1. Believable assignment results
  2. Believable appraisal
  3. Believable opinions and conclusions;
  4. Believable analysis
  5. Believable work of [other] individuals
  6. Believable appraisal review (Standard 3)
  7. Believable opinion of the quality of another appraiser’s work
  8. Believable items in the work under review
  9. Believable “information, analyses, opinions, and conclusions” in the work under review. (Standard 4)

The above words are substantially repeated by property type in the other six standards.

So how do you learn to be “worthy of belief”?  Since the very, very important word ‘credible’ is defined to be worthy, we need to see what that word means!  Per my dictionary:

  • the quality of being good enough; suitability.
  • the quality of deserving attention or respect.

Ok, so learn to be “good enough.” Be suitable. Be deserving.  Gain attention.  Get respect.

How do you measure “good enough”?

“Measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement. If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it. If you can’t understand it, you can’t control it. If you can’t control it, you can’t improve it.”– H. James Harrington,

So when and how does someone else declare you to be “in violation” of USPAP?  How do they measure “good enough”, and being suitable, deserving of attention, deserving of respect?

There are only three “violations” stated in USPAP.  So how does someone declare you to be in ‘violation’?  They can’t.  It is only their opinion, whether qualified, or unqualified to do so.

TAAR subscribers receive a more complete checklist and documentation of USPAP violations, and suggestions on handling alleged ‘violations.’